'69 Mets: Glenn McColgan

Glenn McColgan

Glenn McColgan,61, who lived in West Islip and now lives in Jersey City, N.J. Advertising copywriter.

Watching the '69 Mets was an awakening. If the Mets were your first real baseball team, it was an unbelievable experience to see what a good hitter was, guys like Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee and Donn Clendenon. That season, you learned what it was like to root for a team that had good...

Watching the '69 Mets was an awakening. If the Mets were your first real baseball team, it was an unbelievable experience to see what a good hitter was, guys like Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee and Donn Clendenon. That season, you learned what it was like to root for a team that had good hitting, pitching and was consistent. Until then, as Mets fans, we really didn't know. We only saw it on other teams.

It was amazing how that season started. Maybe we would be respectable, nothing more. We thought maybe we'll put up a good fight.

As the season progressed, it didn't seem likely they would get into the postseason, but we felt proud that we had a good team. Then they went on that unbelievable tear in August. That was the year of the landing on the moon, too. You thought maybe anything was possible.